Thailand wins Best Meetings & Incentives Destination (Asia) Award

Thailand won the Best Meetings & Incentives Destination (Asia) Award for the second consecutive year at the recent M&C Asia Stella Awards, an annual award organised by Singapore-based travel trade publisher, Northstar. The hybrid award ceremony was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore on 23 August 2022.​​

An incentive group activity in Thailand. (Photo courtesy of TCEB)

Mr Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) said: “Thailand’s win in the Best Meetings & Incentives Destination (Asia) category is a recognition of the hard work put in by all MICE stakeholders in Thailand to support each other over a very challenging period. 

As we emerged with a greater sense of our strengths and weaknesses, we are more aware than ever that great product quality and variety are key to a destination’s appeal. TCEB will be working with our industry partners to translate our resources, creativity, and market insights into winning products that match the evolving needs of planners and visitors. 

Now that Thailand has fully reopened for MICE and our industry is going all out to woo the world, we are heartened to see the strong response from planners near and far. As we gear up for 2023, let me assure you that we will do our utmost to deliver on the honour of being Asia’s best meetings and incentives destination.”

​Meetings and incentives travel industry in Thailand is showing a positive sign. 68,700 arrivals of overseas groups were registered from April to June 2022.  Another 4,143 is scheduled for September under TCEB support and an estimate of 30,700 from 87 leads that TCEB is tracking is scheduled from October to December. This will put Thailand’s meetings and incentives travel haul for the year well over the 100,000 mark. The largest group to date has been the 2022 Unicity Global Leadership & Innovation Conference in August with 10,000 attendees from 50 countries. 
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​The top three destinations for hosting Meetings and Incentives are Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya. Other destinations popular with planners are Hua Hin, Krabi, and Khao Lak.